Picking up one of the top laptops for kids allows your child to work and play on something that’s perfectly suited to their needs.
Whether at the kitchen table or at school, a laptop – rather than an all-in-one computer – means that they’re able to take their studies (and YouTube binging) on the go. As a parent who has to travel regularly, laptops are fantastic for that reason. Schools are also expecting students to be fluent with digital literacy earlier than ever, so it’s worth getting them comfortable with a laptop as soon as possible. However, the laptop market is saturated, and it’s not always clear which are a good fit for younger ages. Based on our testing, research, and parent experience, we rounded up our top picks for you all while considering durability, performance, budget, and of course, whether the experience has a UI suited for a child.
Read more: Best kids’ tablet: Parent approved and reviewed
And while it’s easy to assume laptops are merely a tool for schoolwork, these machines are great for entertainment and passion projects like gaming, photography, graphic design, art, music, coding, or watching movies. That said, choosing the right laptop best suited to your child’s interests and hobbies may be more important to them.
If you have a teenager who may be ready to enter the world of grown-up MacBooks and Ultrabooks, then be sure to check out our best laptop guide, too. Without further ado, here are our picks for the best laptops for kids, starting with our top choice: The Acer Chromebook Plus 515.
Best laptops for kids: Our top picks
Acer
Acer Chromebook Plus 515
1. Best overall laptop for kids
Outstanding power with military-grade protection
$269 $399 Save $130
The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 also happens to be our choice for the best Chromebook laptop. Given the high-praise our editors gave it in our Chromebook buyer’s guide, and that Chromebooks are an ideal device for children, it’s topping our list as the best kids’ laptop.
- Exceptional performance
- Wi-Fi 6E connectivity
- Military grade durability
The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is our choice for the best kids’ laptop overall as it comes equipped with 8GB of RAM, 128GB of memory, and a 12th Gen Intel Core i3 processor. The 8GB of RAM will allow your child run more intensive apps and games simultaneously.
The Chromebook Plus 515 has a 15.6-inch Full-HD display and uses an Intel UHD graphics card. Additionally, it hosts 10 hours of battery life, so it won’t die at school even when your kid forgets their charger. And independently verified to meet MIL-STD military-grade durability certification, this laptop boasts a durable build that survives the inevitable drops and dents.
Acer
Acer Chromebook Spin 513
2. Best budget laptop for kids
Everything you need in a laptop for under $200
This Chromebook is good for the majority of younger users, offering solid specifications and an affordable price tag.
- Exceptional trackpad
- Stylish design
- Comfortable keyboard
- Slow storage
- Limited screen brightness
The Acer Spin 513 is a perfect option for younger users doing schoolwork, or really anyone who needs a fairly cheap laptop for emails, web browsing, and watching videos.
It feels very sturdy, despite being mostly plastic, and both the keyboard and trackpad are a delight to use. The Spin 513 comes with a 13.3-inch touchscreen display that can be folded over and used like a tablet, which is a useful feature for younger kids who may have more familiarity using a tablet. It also comes with 4GB of RAM and uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c CPU.
When we went hands-on with the Acer Spin 513, we came away impressed with all the details you’ll use most often, especially its display. Overall, it’s a device capable of handling whatever young students need in school – including typing up an assignment, researching a project, or collaborating with other students.
Asus
Asus Vivobook 14
3. Best school laptop for kids
Windows 11 at a Chromebook price
Want the full Windows laptop experience at a Chromebook price? That makes this laptop a perfect starting point for most kids.
- Low asking price
- 14-inch 1080p display with metal lid
- Office 365 bundles are available
- Intel Celeron processor isn’t very powerful
- Only 64GB storage built-in
The Asus Vivobook 14 can do everything your child needs for school. It has 12GB of SDRAM and a 256GB SSD. It uses an 11th Gen Intel Core i3 processor, and has a 14-inch HD LED display. It’s also surprisingly stylish and lightweight too, especially given it’s price point.
Read more: Should you subscribe to Microsoft’s Office suite?
The Vivobook 14 runs Windows 11 and comes in a price range normally reserved for Chromebooks, meaning it will be compatible with everything with docs, Outlook, and more. Additionally, the laptop comes bundled with Office365, which is stacked full of tools to help your child establish a steady workflow. That said, the display is fair, but not wonderful if your child is looking for an entertainment device.
Acer
Acer Nitro 5
4. Best gaming laptop for kids
High-end gaming performance at an affordable price
$789 $864 Save $75
The Acer Nitro 5 offers a suite of features you’d expect in a top-end gaming laptop, like 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, but it costs much less than the average gaming laptop.
- Up 180 frames per second in our hands-on testing
- 16GB RAM
- 15.6-inch Full HD display
- Twin fan set up can overpower speakers
- Heavier than non-gaming laptops
The Acer Nitro 5 is a budget-priced gaming laptop that offers all the features young gamers need to play their favorite titles. Just about every laptop can handle popular kids games like Minecraft and Roblox. But to play any possible game – like Valorant, Call of Duty, or League of Legends – you do need specialized features. Luckily, the Nitro 5 does just that. It includes an Intel 10th Gen Core i processor, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and either Nvidia GeForce RTX or GTX graphics card options.
Ultimately, if your child is looking for a gaming laptop that can work as a school laptop as well, then the Nitro 5 is a fantastic choice. It has 9 hours of battery life, which will more than cover how much they’ll need to use it during the average school day. It’s also about as light as gaming laptops come, weighing an impressive 7.88lbs, which is still about 5lbs heavier than non-gaming laptops.
Lenovo
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook Laptop
5. Best art laptop for kids
Includes a stylus for drawing and design
$290 $500 Save $210
Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 3 is designed for creativity, with an eight-core processor and 8GB of RAM. The included stylus lets you work on the 11.6-inch HD touchscreen with precision.
- Comes with a stylus
- 2-in-1 tablet and laptop design
- Stylish design
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 is a great choice for any little artist you want to support. Its 360-degree hinge lets you tilt the device to four different modes, including laptop and tablet modes. Those multiple standing angles make the Flex 3 great for drawing with the included stylus pen.
Read more: Best tablets for graphic design: The pen is mightier than the mouse
It has an 11.6-inch HD IPS touchscreen display with 1366 x 768 resolution and 250nits brightness. It has a slim and light design for portability weighing only 2.6lbs. The aluminum body should protect the laptop from minor bumps and falls. It also has an outstanding 16 hours of battery life.
Acer
Acer Chromebook Spin 311
6. Best rugged laptop for kids
A solid laptop for less than $200
The Chromebook Spin 311 is astonishingly cheap and has a rugged build quality that won’t disappoint.
- Solid and comfy keyboard
- Good battery life
- Rugged construction and hinge design
- Massive bezels on the screen
The Acer Spin 311 offers tremendous value. The keyboard is great, and the flexible hinge design lets you use it as a chunky tablet. The screen is pretty solid too, albeit on the smaller side, with an 11.6-inch HD display with large bezels.
It’s not the sleekest or most elegant looking laptop, but its rugged exterior will stand up to the inevitable knocks and tumbles that a kids’ laptop will often be subjected to in a given day. Unlike some of the other options on our list, this one has plenty of ports, so you can connect it up to all manner of peripherals. It also has 4GB of RAM, 64GB of flash memory, and 10 hours of battery life on a full charge.
Lenovo
Lenovo Ideapad Duet 3i
7. Best budget 2-in-1 for kids
A 2-in-1 tablet for only $123
If you’re looking for a budget 2-in-1 device to help your kid transition off of a tablet, the Ideapad Duet 3i might be a perfect choice.
- Lightweight
- Very wallet-friendly
- Runs Windows 11
- Supports a stylus, but doesn’t come with one
The Lenovo Ideapad Duet 3i is a 2-in-1 tablet, runs Windows 11, looks stylish and is exceptionally well-priced. It comes with the keyboard cover in the box, unlike Microsoft’s Surface equivalents, and at a much lower price, too. It has an 11.3-inch FHD display. The Duet 3i also comes with options of 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
It’s also extremely compact, weighing only 1.2lbs, and has enough battery life for the average school day, making it a great pick for kids.
If you don’t want to choose between a tablet and a laptop, the Duet is an excellent middle ground. It’s a great choice if your kid is used to using a tablet for fun, but needs to start using a keyboard for school. It even supports stylus input, so it’s great for any little Van Gogh’s you have running around.
Bottom line: What’s the best laptop for kids?
Choosing a laptop for a kid is no easy task, there are many options both on the hardware and software side. On the bright side that makes it a little easier to find a laptop that fits the price you want to pay, while giving your kid what they want and need from a laptop. We’ve decided to focus on durable devices that can do everything your kid needs from a laptop in the classroom, while still being fun to use at home.
Our top choice is the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 because of it’s military-grade durability and 8GB of RAM that make it capable of anything a kid needs, while costing only $260. While some of the others on the list are curated around kids’ hobbies and interest. If you’re searching for machines for both school use and children’s interest, we’d recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3, perfect for young artists or the Acer Nitro 5, for the gamers to enjoy.
Acer
Acer Chromebook Plus 515
Editor’s Choice
$269 $399 Save $130
How did we choose the best laptop for kids?
As a parent myself, the most important features in a laptop for my daughter are compatibility and durability, but I also want her to be able to explore new interests in subjects like art or design as she grows up. Essentially I want a laptop that will grow with her interests, and also work with any apps or programs she’ll be needing for school. Even better if it’s hard to break.
My daughter is young though, and I do have ten years experience teaching middle school students (ages 10-14). Personally speaking, I think if you’re getting a laptop for a child in that age range, you should worry less about durability and more about functionality. I’ve never seen a single kid break a laptop, but I’ve seen plenty of disappointment when a kid figures out they can’t run a program like Photoshop on their school assigned laptop. So in my opinion, focus on computers with at least 8GB of RAM like our top choice the Chromebook Plus 515 or that can run Windows 11 like the Vivobook 14.
Should you just buy an old laptop for your kid?
For younger kids, we think durability should be a primary concern, as the laptop will no doubt be getting knocked about a bit. We think it’s often wise to consider a cheaper device, too, as it will lessen the blow when it eventually breaks. Performance isn’t likely to be a top priority; these days any laptop can handle web browsing, YouTube, and basic word processing tasks.
If you’re shopping for an older kid, then performance will become more of a concern. Ideally, you want a device that will last a while, and if they are showing an interest in things like graphic design, video editing, or gaming then it’s important to find a device that will allow for these activities. In this case, you might be best looking at our guide to the best laptops for students instead or even just our best laptop guide. So, in the end, we do not recommend buying an older device, which might also need updates and be less secure than a newer one.
Which laptops offer parental controls?
You’ll be able to set up parental controls through any laptop these days, including all the ones on our list. You’ll want to set up your kid’s laptop yourself, though, especially if you plan on adding any parental controls. Keep in mind, if you already have content restrictions or other parental controls enabled through family sharing, you may be able to import the settings to the new device quickly through your phone. This works especially well with Google Family and the Chrome OS, but any laptop will support you adding parental controls.
Read more: What is Apple Screen Time and how does it work?
Which is better for a kid: Chrome OS or Windows?
It’s crucial to figure out which operating system will be best suited to the work your child needs to get done. Windows 11 is one of the most popular operating systems in the world and, as such, it offers the greatest level of flexibility and is compatible with pretty much any software you can imagine. The downside is that Windows requires a bit more horsepower to run, and so Windows laptops tend to be more expensive and have shorter battery life than their Chromebook counterparts.
Chrome OS is a simpler operating system that is based largely around Google’s Chrome browser. Chrome OS can run smoothly on lower-spec devices, meaning you can get snappy performance from cheap hardware. It also has the benefit of being able to run Android apps, which makes touchscreen Chromebooks very versatile devices. If your child needs to run any special software for school or a hobby, though, there’s a good chance it won’t be compatible.
How much should you spend on a laptop for your child?
When it comes to laptops and Chromebooks, there is a gigantic spread of price points. As you might expect, the more you spend, the more capable of a machine you will get. Our highest priced recommendation is the Acer Nitro 5, but it’s also made to play high-end video games, so it requires more than a regular laptop would.
The rest of our choices cost less than $400 with the cheapest being the $123 Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3i. If you’re looking for a device for a younger child, around 10 and under, we’d recommend you’d stay under $200. These devices can run any app the kids will need for school, while also being capable of playing some video games.
Read more: Best Chromebook – Our pick of the top Chrome OS laptops available today
However, if you’re buying for older kids or are looking for a device that can be shared among adults and children, then you’ll likely benefit from spending a little more.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 or the Acer Nitro are two great options for older kids. You also might want to check out our guide to the best laptops for more premium options. There’s also best gaming laptops if you’re looking to make a little gamer’s Christmas extra special.
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